EFIC President: Europe-wide curriculum for pain medicine

15th September 2015 09:39

Vienna, 3 September 2015 – Approximately 20 percent of Europe’s adult population – more than 80 million people – suffer from chronic pain, meaning pain which occurs repeatedly over a period of three months or longer. Some 9 percent of Europeans experience pain on a daily basis. Back pain is especially common, reported by 63 percent of all pain patients, followed by joint and rheumatic pain. The total direct and indirect costs of chronic pain amount to an estimated 1.5 to 3 percent of total European GDP. These alarming figures were the subject of discussion today at the European Pain Federation EFIC’s Pain in Europe IX Congress in Vienna, Austria. More than 4,000 experts from all over the world are attending Europe’s largest pain medicine event.